A collection of historic flags at the Wawel Royal , Cracow

Magdalena Piwocka

Abstract Unfortunately, the present collection of flags at the Wawel Royal Castle does not reflect the size of the original vexillary resources of the Castle and the , but in some measure gives a picture of their past content. The assemblage does not exceed 50 items. However, by Polish stan­ dards it is the most important set, as it includes the oldest, 16th century, state ensigns and trophies of top rank. The preserved objects fall into categories: state and royal standards, tomb banners, trophies, flags of private troops and of confederacies of the gentry, as well as town and even guild banners. The first group is represented above all by the queen 's great court standard from the time of Sigismund Augustus Jagiellon (1520-1572), in all likelihood made for his mar­ riage to Catherine of Habsburg on 30th July 1553. The oldest Polish tomb banner, originating from the , is connected with Stanislaw Barzi (1530-1571), courtier to King Sig­ ismund Augustus, who died in 1571. Among the trophies particularly remarkable are the banner of the Silesian troops of Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg, dating from 1587, the en­ sign captured from Charles X Gustavus in 1656, and a group of Turkish flags (five items) cap­ tured by John Ill Sobieski 's army at and Parkany in 1683. Furthermore, the collection contains a set of copies (21) of the Teutonic standards taken at Grunwald ( 141 0). This is a third or fourth generation of copies of the lost originals, executed on the basis of the famous manu­ script of Jan Dlugosz, Banderia Prutenorum, of 1448. Some banners of private magnate troops once belonged to the armouries of the Rzewuskis and Zamoyskis (first half and the fifties of the 18th century) and to the collection of the Zbaraski family (first quarter of the ). Two 19th century guild banners and a banner of the city of Gdansk from the late 17th century form a separate group.

Unfortunately, the present collection of banners at the Wawel Royal Castle does not reflect the size of the original vexillary resources of the Castle and the Cathedral, but in some measure gives a picture of their past content. From the 11th century the Wawel hill in Cracow, the former capital of , was the seat of the secular and the ecclesiastical authority. The royal castle and the Episcopal cathedral, standing side by side, were two great repositories of historic valu­ ables, regalia, and objects symbolizing the national identity of the , and at the same time storage places for banners. From the 14th century onwards, votive offerings and banners captured in battles were placed in the Wawel cathedral, a national pan­ theon, at the foot of the Altar of the Fatherland, near the relics of the patron of the country, Saint Stanislaus. 1 The flags included those taken at Grunwald (Tannenberg) in

Jan Oskar Engene (ed.): Proceedings of the XX International Congress of Vexillology, , 27th July to I st August 2003, Bergen: Nordic Flag Society, 2004. ISBN 82-996983-1-6 © 2004 Nordic Flag Society and the author

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1410 at the battle with the Teutonic Order, tokens of the most famous triumph of the Polish army, as well as Turkish war ensigns captured during the victorious battle fought by John III Sobieski at Vienna in 1683. In addition, tomb banners were sus­ pended in the cathedral above the epitaph plaques of eminent representatives of the knighthood. The secular- state, regional, and magnate -ensigns assembled in the Cas­ tle suffered the first serious depletion during the Swedish "flood" between 1655 and 1657, when the royal standards, captured and taken not from Cracow but from War­ saw, fell into the hands of Karl Gustav Wrangel, Magnus Steinbock, and Charles X Gustavus himself? This is why today they can be admired at the Armemuseum and in Stockholm. The last decade of the 18th century witnessed annihilation of part of the remain­ der of these fragile objects, caused by the political situation in the country. As a result of the third partition of Poland, Cracow became a scene of stormy political and admin­ istrative changes; at first under Prussian rule, in the years 1795-1796 it found itself within the boundaries of the . These happenings brought about pil­ lage from Wawel and then destruction by the Prussians of the Crown Treasury, among other items the most precious insignia and regalia.3 There was a parallel impoverish­ ment of the Wawel cathedral, whose Chapter was unable to provide adequate care for all the mementoes accumulated in it. It gradually lost single objects which were ac­ quired for private collections and were later confiscated by the Prussian or Russian partitwner.. . 4 The dispersal of both the Crown and Cathedral treasuries caused an irretriev­ able loss or at best a many years' odyssey of precious objects- through Russian impe­ rial residences and national museums, through the process of revindication, transoce­ anic evacuation during the Second World War, down to their present museum status. As early as after the First World War and the rebirth of independent Poland, and espe­ cially after the last war, the banners from the Cathedral and the Castle, and from some prominent aristocratic collections, met at the Wawel Royal Castle.5 The assemblage does not exceed 50 items. When compared with their number at the Polish Army Museum in or at the Armemuseum in Stockholm this is a surprisingly small set. Nevertheless, by Polish standards it is the most important as it includes the oldest, 16th century, state ensigns and trophies of top rank. The surviving objects fall into categories: state and royal standards, tomb banners, trophies, flags of private magnate troops or of confederacies of the gentry, as well as town and even guild banners.6 The first group is represented above all by the great standard from the time of Sigismund Augustus Jagiellon (1520-1572), in all likelihood made for his marriage to Catherine ofHabsburg on 30th July 1553 (Fig. 1). That this is the queen's court banner is evidenced by the presence of the Bar of the Habsburgs on a surtout in the centre of the cloth.7 The four divisions of the shield contain the coats of arms of the Polish Kingdom (an Eagle with the letters SA on the breast) and (the Pursuit- a mounted knight with a raised sword and a shield with a double cross). The cartouche is encircled by 22 regional armorial bearings inscribed in laurel wreaths (Fig. 2). The ar­ rangement of these ensigns, visualizing "the body of the Kingdom", expresses the ter­ ritorial unity of the Polish Commonwealth from Cracow to Vilna and . An identical programme appears on the banner executed for the funeral of John III and of Sigismund III Vasa in 1594, now at the Livrustkammaren in Stockholm. 8 The fluent and confident line of the heraldic figures points to an excellent studio back-

482 A collection of historic flags at the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow

Figure 1 Court standard from the time ofSigismund Augustus Jagiellon, 1553.

ground of the designer and painter. The banner, functioning as an insignia in a state ceremonial, survived in Cracow until the liquidation of the Crown Treasury in 1796. It returned to Wawel after its restitution from Russia, from the Hermitage, in 1926. It has no equal in its category in Poland. Furthermore, the Wawel set contains a large banner of Augustus III of Saxony (1696-1763), from the time of the reign of the Wettin dy­ nasty (Fig. 3); made after 1734, two-sided, decorated with an applique design and painted, it bears an Eagle with the arms of the Electorate of Saxony on the breast.9 Be­ sides, the collection includes a banner of the army of King Stanis las Leszczynski, dat­ ing from the first half of the 1 gth century, 10 and an item of exceptional emotional ap­ peal -the president's standard of the 1930s - a modest batik on wool. This standard covered the coffin of J6zef Pilsudski (1867-1935), first marshal of renascent Poland and its liberator in 1918, at his funeral in the Wawel cathedral on l81h May 193 5. 11 The oldest of the very few tomb banners preserved in our country, originating from the Wawel cathedral, is connected with Stanislaw Barzi (1530-1571), courtier to Sigismund Augustus, as well as (governor) and palatine of Cracow, who died in 1571. 12 Its triangular field is divided into the inscriptional zone ( commemora­ tive inscription) and a painted portrait of the knight (Miles christianus) in adoration of the crucifix (Fig. 4). The depiction belongs to the body of 16th century Polish portraits and is at the same time an example of a "banner monument", that is, an "epitaph of ", which was carried in a funeral procession and which had an established place in the funeral ceremonial of the Polish knighthood in the 16th and 17'h centuries. The greatest diversity is to be found in the set of trophies. Chronologically the first is the banner of the troops of the Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg, which was lost at the battle ofByczyna on 24th January 1588 to the Poles fighting under the com-

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Figure 2 Detail ofCourt standard from the time ofSigismund Augustus Jagiellon, 1553 (Fig. 1).

484 A collection of historic flags at the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow

Figure 3 State flag from the time ofAugustus III Wettin, 1734-1763.

mand of Captain of the Horse Stanislaw Z6lkiewski. 13 On the yellow field covered with painting on both sides there is a black eagle and the words: Weiher In Gottes Her­ res, and the date 1587 (Fig. 5). The campaign of the Archduke, to the Cra­ cow throne after the death of Stephen Bathory (1586), ended in his defeat which made possible the accession to the throne of the Vasa , natural successors to the Jagiellons. In the late 19th century both the banner and a whole group of flags were stitched onto a net, which additionally damaged the object. The removal of the net without disturbing the structure of the flag itself poses one of the most difficult prob­ lems to be solved by conservators. The set contains an interesting svecanum -the only Swedish war ensign in Polish collections- a standard of Charles X Gustavus (Fig. 6), which was captured at Rudnik in March 1656 by the troops of Stefan Czamiecki (1599-1665). The embroidery with metal threads on Italian damask from about 1630- 1640 reveals a good technical and artistic quality. 14 Today it can be seen at the "The Eagle and Three Crowns" exhibition in . As a result of the legendary victory of Sobieski over the army of Mohammed IV under the command of Kara Mustapha at the on 12th September 1683, the Iion's share of war booty - tents, carpets, arms and armour, buntchuks (tughs, horse-tails), and standards -fell to the Poles. 15 Five Turkish banners captured at Vienna and kept at Wawel form a set representative not only of the trophies from

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Figure 4 Tomb banner ofStanislaw Barzi, 1571.

486 A collection of historic flags at the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow

Figure 5 Banner of the Silesian troops ofArchduke Maximilian ofHabsburg , 1587.

Figure 6 Dragoon ensign ofCharles X Gustavus, c. 1654.

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Figure 7 Turkish banner, 17'h century - an ex voto offering sent by John Ill Sobieski to the Wawel cathedral.

Vienna but also of Ottoman vexilla in general. Unlike most of surviving specimens from the first half of the 1ih century, they are complete, not remade, stitched together from fragments, as are the items in Karlsruhe or at Harvard, Massachusetts. 16 The large flags of sanjak type belong to two principal varieties- Dhu '1-Faqar (with Ali's sword in the centre) and inscriptional (with quotations from the Koran in medallions) - or combine the two types. Woven with many-coloured silk and with and on a carmine red ground, they rank as some of the top achievements of Turkish textile art pursued in such centres as Istanbul or Baghdad. The inscriptional banner (Fig. 7) pre­ sented by the king to the Wawel cathedral on 23rd December 1683, after the Relief of Vienna, 17 and the huge (7 m wide) banner from Parkany (Fig. 8) (the battle fought against Kara Mohammed, 9th October 1683), sent by John III to the sanctuary at Lo­ reto,18 are of immense symbolic significance. This is evidenced by the marble tablets in both churches, set in on the occasion of the ex voto offering of the banners. Unlike the flags, these two memorials have remained in situ - one at the shrine of Saint Stanislaus in Cracow Cathedral and the other in Santa Casa at Loreto, near. the Sacres­ tia dei Curati. In the 19th century the two flags went through incredibly difficult and hazardous peregrinations. Their spectacular return to Poland from the Hermitage in St Petersburg, where the Russians had taken them from Pulawy and Warsaw, took place in 1926. When in Russia, the Parkany banner was protected from below using fish­ glue, which destroyed its flexibility. Baghdad provenance is ascribed to the flag captured by one of the commanders of Sobieski's army, Marcin Zamoyski (Fig. 9); it is distinguished by the exceptionally clear-cut colouring of ornaments, standing out against the background. 19 The conserva­ tive character of Islamic war ensigns is attested to by a banner bearing the date 1818/1819, which precisely repeats 17th century patterns (Fig. 10); this is a memento of the Crimean War, acquired in 1984 from a legacy left by its Polish participant

488 A collection ofhistoricjlags at the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow

Figure 8 Turkish banner, 1 i" century - an ex voto offering sent by John III Sobieski to the Casa Santa at Loreto.

Figure 9 Turkish banner, 1 i" century- captured at Vienna by Marcin Zamoyski - detail.

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Figure 10 Turkish banner, 1819.

Emeryk Hutten-Czapski.20 Until the date on the flag was deciphered at Wawel, it had been believed to be a trophy from Vienna. The set of copies of the standards captured at Grunwald, numbering 21 pieces, is one of the most extraordinary phenomena in Polish history. The originals, suspended near the altar of Saint Stanislaus in the Wawel Cathedral after the crushing defeat of the Teutonic Order on 15th July 1410, were documented by the most eminent Polish historian Jan Dlugosz (1415-1480) in a manuscript codex of 1448, illustrated by the Cracow painter Stanislaw Durink. 21 The work, acknowledged as the most famous European Fahnenbuch, was copied time and again until as late as the 19th century. In the preamble to the text Dlugosz included an instruction that should these flags be de­ stroyed, their description and miniatures were to be used for their reproduction for fu­ ture generations. Such destruction was repeatedly wrought by time and war disasters. The trophies from Grunwald disappeared from the cathedral in the late 18th century.22 In 1900 the first reconstruction was carried out using a set-in applique method - 50 copies were made for the jubilee of the re-founding of the .23 However, they did not survive the First World War. A second series of copies was made at Wawel in 1937, with the participation of the painter Waclaw Szymborski and the conservator of textiles Bronislawa Lukaszewicz. Some of them were lost between I940 and 1944, after being carried away by the Nazis to Malbork (Marienburg), the former seat of the Teutonic Order.24 In I962, also at Wawel, the losses were made up by successive reconstructions after Dlugosz and Durink (Fig. II). The message of the far-sighted historian turned out to be more effective and powerful than the worst his­ toric upheavals.

490 A collection ofhistoricjlags at the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow

Figure II Standard ofthe Grand Master ofthe Teutonic Order, before 14IO (a 1962 copy).

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Figure 12 Banner ofthe infantry regiment of the Zamoyski Entailed Estate, first quarter of 18'h century.

Preserved in the collection is also a specific commentary on the Polish-Swedish war of 1655-1660 - a banner of the Cracow confederacy, a union of the gentry who swore allegiance to King John Casimir Vasa. The flag, made hurriedly in Cracow, was given by the monarch to the confederates in the town hall in 1657.25 Among banners of the next category - those of private magnate troops - espe­ cially remarkable are the specimens originating from the armouries of the Rzewuskis26 and Zamoyskis- families with outstanding military traditions (Figs. 12-13)- dating from the first half and the fifties of the 18th century ?7 Their poor state of preservation is the result of their dramatic past and casual old conservation treatments. Carefully executed embroideries in silk and metal thread can be seen in Post- heral­ dic flags (Fig. 14) of another powerful family- Zbaraski (the ).28 Finally, should be mentioned the painted banners of the city of Gdansk (late 17th century?) and two 19th century guild banners. Thus the Wawel group ofvexilla not only embraces objects of primary historic importance, evidencing the vicissitudes of our history, but it also enables us to study a wide range of painting and weaving techniques that were used by the makers of ban­ ners from Little Poland to Istanbul and Baghdad. The problem of preserving this treas­ ure for future generations lies in the methods of and prospects for present-day conser­ vation, on the improvement of which we still count.

492 A collection ofhistoricflags at the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow

Figure 13 Banner of the infantry regiment ofthe Zamoyski Entailed Estate, mid-18h century.

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Figure 14 Pennon (trumpet pennoncel?) with the arms ofJerzy Zbaraski, 1620-1631.

494 A collection ofhistoricjlags at the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow

Notes

1 M. Rozek, Katedra wawelska w XVIl wieku, Krakow 1980 (Biblioteka Krakowska, 121), pp. 96-102; M. Rozek, Ara Patriae. Dzieje grobu sw. Stanislawa w katedrze na Wawelu, Analecta Cracoviensia, XI, 1979, pp. 433-460. 2 M. Rozek, Straty kulturalne i artystyczne Krakowa w okresie pierwszego najazdu szwedzkiego (1655- 1657), Biuletyn Historii Sztuki, XXXVI, 1974, no 2, pp. 141-157; A. Danielsson, Polska Baner och gardesfanor i Statens Trofesamling, Armemuseum Meddelande, XLI-XLII, 1980-1982, pp. 35-51; W. Grabowski, Polskie chorqgwie z XV1-XVJJI wieku w zbiorach ikonograjicznych Armemuseum w Sztok­ holmie, Broil i Barwa, XVI, no 23,2001, pp. 3-30. 3 K. Estreicher, Zniszczenie polskich insygni6w koronnych, PrzeglItaly (fabric), c. 1630-1640, (embroidery), c. 1654; silk damask, gold and silver threads, em­ broidery; 48 x 49.2 em; inv. 4090- M. Piwocka, The Standard of Carl X Gustav in the Collections of the Wawel Royal Castle in Cracow, Livrustkammaren, 1995/1996 [ed. 1997], pp. 3-19; The Eagle and Three Crowns. Polish-Swedish Relations across the Baltic from the 16th to the 18th Centuries. Supple­ ment, The Warsaw Royal Castle, Warszawa 2002, p. 157, cat. no III/95 [M. Piwocka]. 15 Z . .Zygulski jun., Odsiecz wiedenska 1683 [in:] Odsiecz Wiedenska 1683. Wystawa jubileuszowa w Zamku Kr6lewskim na Wawelu w trzechsetlecie bitwy. Tlo historyczne i materialy ir6dlowe, ed. J. Szablowski, Krakow 1990, I, pp. 75-79. 16 Z . .Zygulski jun., Chorqgwie tureckie w Polsce na tle og6lnej problematyki przedmiotu, Studia do dziejow Wawelu, III, 1968, pp. 363-453; W.B. Denny, A Group of Silk Islamic Banners, Textile Mu­ seum Journal, IV, 1974, no I, pp. 67-81. 17 Turkey, 17th century; silk, gold threads, brocaded; 178 x 346 em; inv. 143 - .Zygulski jun., Chorqg-

495 Proceedings of the XX International Congress ofVexillology, Stockholm, 2003 wie .. , pp. 400-404, ill. 18; M. Piwocka, Turkish Banners [a booklet, Wawel State Collections of Art], Warszawa 1983, no I; Odsiecz Wiedenska ... , pp. 274-275, cat. no 481 [M. Piwocka], pl. XXIII. 18 Turkey, 17th century; silk, gold and silk threads, brocaded; 321 x 695 em; inv. 145 - Zygulski jun., Chorqgwie .. , pp. 417-424, ills. 29-35; Piwocka, Turkish Banners ... , no 9; Odsiecz Wiedenska ... , pp. 277- 278, cat. no 484 [M. Piwocka], ill. 317. 19 Turkey, Istanbul or Baghdad, 17th century; silk, silver, gold and silk threads, brocaded; 240 x 466 em; inv. 3981- Zygulski jun., Chorqgwie .. , pp. 404-408, ills 19-23 ; Denny, op. cit., pp. 76-79, ill. 15 ; Piwocka, Turkish Banners ... , no 3; Odsiecz Wiedefzska ... , pp. 278-279, cat. No 485 [M. Piwocka], pl. XXJV. 20 Turkey (Istanbul?), 1819; si lk, silver, gold and silk threads, brocaded; 262 x 333 em; inv. 6935- War and Peace. Ottoman-Polish Relations in the 15th-19th Centuries [exhib. cat.], Istanbul 1999, p. 389, cat. no 305 [M. Piwocka]. 21 Manuscript, once in the Wawel Capitular Library, since 1963 in the Jagiellonian Library, inv. MS 1000 I - Jana Dlugosza Banderia Prutenorum, ed. K. Gorski, Warszawa 1968; S. Ekdahl, Die "Banderia Prutenorum" des Jan Dlugosz - eine Quelle zur Schlacht bei Tannenberg 1410, Gottingen 1976; WA WEL 1000-2000 ... , I, pp. 54-55, cat. no UI8 [A. Sobaitska, M. Adamska], Ill, ill. 19. 22 Hidden from the Prussians outside Wawel, after the collapse of the Kosciuszko Insurrection ( 1794) they were found and taken by the Austrians to Vienna in 1796 - A. Mell, Das Heeresgeschichtliche Mu­ seum in Wien, Revue Internationale d'Histoire Militaire, XIV, 1955, pp. 183-184. The record is dis­ cussed by J. Wyrozumski in Przepadek chorqgwi krzytackich w 1794 roku [in:] Krakow w powstaniu kosciuszkowskim, Krakow 1996, pp. 57-60. 23 Katalog wystawy zabytk6w epoki Jagiellonskiej w 500 rocznic~ odnowienia Uniwersytetu Jagiel­ lofzskiego zorganizowanej, Krakow 1900, p. 40, cat. no 457. 24 Feier der Einholung der Fahnen des Deutschen Ritterordens von der Burg in Krakau, dem Sitz des Genera!gouverneurs fur die besetzen polnischen Gebiete, in die Marienburg im Reichsgau Danzig­ Westpreussen, /9. Mai 1940, Danzig 1940; 800 Jahre Deutscher Orden [exhib. cat.], Nilrnberg 1990, p. 491 , cat. no Vll.4.27.a-b. . 25 Poland, Cracow, 1657; si lk, oil, painted and gilded; 201.5 x 162.5 em; inv. 148- Petrus I, no 6. 26 's banner of the Rzewuski family, probably of Stanislaw Mateusz Rzewuski, Grand Hetman of the Crown, Poland, I 706-1728; silk, oil, painted and gilded; 145 .5 x 159.5 em; inv. 147 - Petrus I, no 7. 27 Two banners of the infantry regiment of the Zamoyski Entailed Estate: red banner, Poland, I st quarter of 18th century; silk, oil, painted and gi lded; 186 x 212 em; inv. 3986; white banner, Poland, c. mid- 18th century; silk, oil, painted and gilded; 178 x 182 em; inv. 3987- Petrus I, no 8; Petrus II , no 4. 28 Two-sided pennon of Jerzy Zbaraski, castell an of Cracow ( 1620-1631 ), Poland, 1620-163 I; silk, sil­ ver, gold and silk threads, embroidery; 49.5 x 38.5 em; inv. 5364- Petrus I, nos 3-4. 29 City ofGdaitsk (Danzig) banner, Gdansk, end of 17th century(?); silk, embroidery and applique tech­ nique; 232 x 246 em; inv. 146 - Petrus I, no 9.

496 A collection ofhistoric flags at the Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow

About the author

Dr. Magdalena Piwocka, Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow, Poland, is a history of art graduate from the Jagiellonian University in Cra­ cow. In 1974 she obtained a Ph.D., the subject of her dissertation being with Grotesques in the Collection of King Sigis­ mund Augustus. One of the authors of the joint publication The Flemish Tapestries at in Cracow, Mercator Fonds, Antwerpen 1972 (successive editions in 1975, 1990, and 1994). Co-originator of some international exhibitions at the Wawel Cas­ tle: Court Art of Vasa Dynasty in Poland (1976), The Relief of Vi­ enna 1683 (1983), Wawel 1000-2000 (2000). She publishes stud­ ies on textiles - European (tapestries, embroideries) and Oriental (tents). She also does research into the broadly-understood prob­ 1 lems of graphic models in 16 h and 1ih century decorative art and is concerned with Renaissance and Manneristic jewellery. At pre­ sent she is Head of the Department of Textiles at the Wawel Royal Castle.

Author's address: Magdalena Piwocka Wawel Royal Castle PL-31-001 Krakow Poland E-mail:

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